Jin-silk with Leaf Pattern

As a heritage of ancient worship of plants, the concept of the tree of life is popular in many parts of the world, especially West Asia. Spruce is believed to be the tree of life in ancient Persia, while in China it is mulberry. The pattern of life tree usually appears as an axis flanked by two symmetrical animals in the Persian Art. And the earliest Chinese silk fabrics that bears the life tree pattern is the jin-silk with sheep and tree motifs of the Northern Dynasties (386-581 AD) unearthed in Turpan, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Pattern of leaves were used sometimes as substitutes for trees due to the large size of trees and difficulty to be expressed in whole.